Uji Toksisitas Akut Nanogel Ekstrak Kulit Buah Delima (Punica granatum L.) pada Ginjal Tikus Wistar sebagai Terapi Penunjang Perawatan Periodontal

Abstract

Periodontal disease is a progressive inflammatory condition affecting the supporting tissues of the teeth, caused by microbial infection, primarily due to biofilm accumulation. This disease has a high prevalence worldwide, including in Indonesia, which reached 74.1% in 2022. Conventional treatment through mechanical therapy and synthetic drugs often has limitations, including side effects and potential issues such as antibiotic resistance. Therefore, alternative treatments using herbal medicine, such as pomegranate peel extract (Punica granatum L.), have emerged as a safer option. Pomegranate contains active compounds such as flavonoids, tannins, and punicalagin, which demonstrate antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory activities. The use of herbal extracts formulated as nanogels for topical therapy of periodontal disease requires risk evaluation, one of which is through toxicity test. Acute toxicity test of pomegranate peel extract nanogel needs to be conducted to assess its potential toxic effects and ensure its safety for use. This study aims to evaluate the toxicity caused by pomegranate peel extract nanogel (Punica granatum L.) as an adjunctive therapy for periodontal treatment on Wistar rats. This is an experimental laboratory study with a posttest control group design. The research sample consists of 30 female Wistar rats divided into control groups (Na-CMC 0.5%) and treatment groups (5 mg/kg BW, 50 mg/kg BW, 300 mg/kg BW, and 2000 mg/kg BW. The parameters in the acute toxicity test include LD50, observation of toxic symptoms, mortality, body weight of the animals, kidney weight, macroscopic examination of the kidney, creatinine test, and histopathology of the kidneys in rats. The results showed no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the control and treatment groups in terms of body weight, relative kidney weight, and creatinine levels. Histopathological analysis also showed no signs of kidney damage at the low dose, but there was inflamation at the dose of 200 mg/kg body weight. The conclusion of this study is that the gradual administration of the pomegranate peel extract nanogel only caused mild toxic effects and is still considered safe.